KitKat - Fruit Parfait ! !
As Japan finally enters Spring-time, a new seasonal KitKat has hit the shelves!
Fruit Parfait flavour is not bad at all. The first flavour one notices is banana. The outer chocolate seems to be some banana milk blend.

Individually wrapped KitKat Fingers
As usual, each twin wafer is wrapped in its own foil wrapper. The colors reflect the spring change, and there are many flowers blooming in Tokyo, just like this:

Rainbow speckled, banana choc fingers!
This close-up shot shows the colourful fruit flecks within each bar. They provide a fruity sweet flavour. Between each wafer is a thin layer of strawberry flavoured paste/jam. Fortunately they have managed to keep the sugar levels down, so it's not too sweet.
Try one today!

Ticket Machine -- -- 200Yen
This ticket machine gives access to a wonderful park, right in the middle of Shinjuku. For 200 Yen, you can access beautiful forest, grassy banks and ponds. Being right next to the hustle and bustle of Shinjuku makes it even more appealling. I went on my day off and sat in the sun for an hour!

Access Card
Like many places in Japan, your ticket is an 'access' card which in turn opens a security turnstile. You cant keep the card :(

Clouds - I spent ages cloudgazing today
The clouds were moving very quickly and the intermittent rays of sun and shade was quite relaxing. In the clouds, I saw dogs, santa, and food. In this photo, I saw a satanic duck quarreling with a koala.

Another funky Japanese tree! 

Shinjuku Gyoen with Docomo Tower in the background 

Deserted open grassy spaces
There were hardly any people here. I found 30 yen on the ground. Mostly I wondered who took care of the gardens. They must employ at least 10 or 20 permanent gardeners. I wonder if they grow any secret plants in the forest.

Super Bright Flowers 

Setagaya Backstreet 

Tama-Tachikawa Monorail 

Boy flying a plane into a building 

Tachikawa Skyline 

Hitachi Gardens Open Day 

Hitachi Research Centre - Kokubunji 

I love bamboo - Nihon Teki na 

Leaf Me 

Leaves anyone? 

Trees 

Many little pathways had 'NO ENTRY' signs. I was temped to explore them. 

Funky Tree 

See ya @ the next Hitachi Day! 

As a young child, I used to enjoy various cartoons for their entertaining characters and amusing storylines. These days I'm more amused by what I recognise as racial, ethnic , and social stereotypes portrayed in the cartoons I have loved for 20 odd years.

In particular it is Warner Brothers cartoons that I have noticed the most blatent stereotypical characters. Here is a rough breakdown of the things I have noticed, with my now enhanced, mature PC radar.















Pepe Le'Pew

As a child, i never realised this character was the common American viewed stereotype of French men; smelly and exhibiting intrusive, aggressive seduction behaviour! These days, such behaviour may be considered stalking or sexual harrassment.

















Bugs Bunny

I always thought BB talked like a African-American using semi-ebonics, however I have come to realise that his voice is very New York like, a combination of Brooklyn and Bronx accents.






















Porky Pig

The stuttering fat kid lacking confidence.





























Foghorn Leghorn / Yosemite Sam

Both these characters exude traits of southern Red Neck Americans. Apparently Foghorn was based on a Senator Claghorn, "a blustering southern polititian" from the 1940's."
These are my favourite FL quotes:
"That dog's as subtle as a hand grenade in a barrrel of oat meal."
"That boy's as strong as an ox, and just about as smart."
"You look like two miles of bad road."
"Nice girl, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice."


























Speedy Gonzales

The fastest mouse in all of Mexico. Speedy's cartoons have come under fire in recent years for their alleged stereotypical depictions of Mexicans and Mexican life. Mice in the cartoons are usually shown as lazy, womanizing and hard-drinking, while Speedy wears a huge sombrero and sometimes plays in a mariachi band.